Measure of a Life
by Nwfanmega
Summary: A chance meeting at summer camp creates a bond that lasts a lifetime.


_**A/N**_: Well… this was a _much _longer break than intended. So long that I actually forgot how to publish on this site. *SMH*

I've been wanting to explore other storytelling formats, so this will be a bit of a departure. Let's see how it goes.

Hurt/Comfort, Romance and a bit of Angst. Richonne is endgame, but you already knew that. Thanks for reading!

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Chapter 1: Fourteen

Hey Michie!

See?! I _told_ you I'd write. I hope you're doing good. I'm feeling MUCH better. You won't believe how hard it is to breath with your belly wrapped up tighter than a mummy! I'm just about healed up and the doctor FINALLY sawed off my cast last week. All that itching was driving me crazy! Mama said I was bouncing around like a Mexican jumping bean, whatever that is. Ha!

Remember Sasha's big brother? Tyreese? He came with her parents on family day. Anyway, he drove her over to see me after my surgery. He said when he broke his leg making that tackle at State finals last year, his cast bugged him so bad he sprinkled an entire container of baby powder down it to make it stop. I tried, but barely got any of it in and ended up making a big mess EVERYWHERE. Maybe it's easier to get it down your leg than your arm? I don't know, but it DEFINITELY didn't work.

When Mama saw what I'd done to her bathroom, she was SO mad. I saw smoke coming out of her ears. No lie! I pretty much spent the two weeks before last week sitting on the front porch doing a double scoop of nothing. It was SO boring. She only lets Daryl and Shane come over when she's home and STILL won't let Abe visit at all, even though I told her it wasn't his fault.

**Secret**: I didn't tell her who else talked me into jumping. Since she's ok with Sasha, I figured I'd 'forget' to tell her Sasha egged me on too. :)

Mama made me put my hand on the bible and swear I'd _never_ do anything as 'asinine as jump from a tree into a lake when you can't tell where you're was going to land.' It's not like it was anyone's fault but mine. You and Glenn tried telling me NOT to do it. I guess I should have listened. I definitely learned my lesson!

Do you miss Camp Waukegan as much as I do? Having to come home early sucked so bad. Mr. Morgan came to visit me in the hospital after my surgery. He said you and I should apply to be junior counselors next year. Said we had the 'temperament.'

Think you'll come back next summer? I think it'd be fun. At first, Mama said I couldn't go back, but Daddy convinced her I'd be fine and she needed to stop 'smothering' me if I was going to have any chance of becoming 'a self-sufficient man.'

Already know what you're going to say. I can hear your 'I told you so' all the way from Chicago! I _know _Mama was just worried sick. I feel pretty bad about it. Especially with Jeffy being sick. She shouldn't have to stress about me too. I promised her I'd make better choices. I swear I will.

School started last week and it turns out you were right. (Yeah, yeah, you told me so…) I wasn't as anxious as I thought I would be. Want to know why?! Because Abe and Daryl are in my homeroom! It's in alphabetic order, so Dixon, Ford and Grimes. Glen and Shane are in a different homeroom but they're both in my algebra class and we get to eat lunch together every day.

If you can believe it, Abe got in trouble the first day. I know, I know, what a surprise! He told some joke about Bisquik and pancakes. I honestly didn't even get it, but laughed anyway just from the faces he was pulling. Mr. Horvath sent him to the Principal's office and he got after-school detention every day last week for 'being crude and disrespectful.' It would've been funny, but he missed football tryouts. You remember how much Abe is into football right? Lucky for him, Tyreese is a senior and pretty much the star on the team. Abe begged Sasha to get Tyreese to talk to the coach. Looks like they're going to give him a chance to tryout next week.

Remember I told you my dad was running for Sheriff of King County? He won! Since the Sheriff needs to live in the city limits, we're moving from the ranch into town. Not that King County isn't the backwoods compared to Chicago, but it'll still be nice to be closer to school and my friends.

My Uncle Herschel moved his Vet clinic to the ranch and he and Daddy are going to hire more ranch hands to help run things. I promised Uncle I'd still come over on the weekends to take care of the horses and help him fix things.

I think I'm going to really like living in town, but I'll miss the ranch, that's for sure. There's just something about getting a minute to just sit still and catch your breath. I think it'll always be home to me.

Do you think you'll come down to visit your Grannie at Thanksgiving? If you do, maybe you could come see the ranch. Daddy says he'd be happy to pick you up and take you back. We had to drive back and forth to Atlanta for my surgery and checkups, so it's not that bad of a drive. It would be so much fun to see you! You said you weren't very good with horses, but I think you did great riding Buttons. We've got a few really gentle ones I think you'd like. Might just make a cowgirl out of you!

Sorry for calling you so late last week! Shane snuck over and he _dared _me to give you a call. I know you said he was strict, but I wasn't thinking your Daddy would be so mad! I hope you didn't get into too much trouble. I really need to stop being a dummy and letting Shane and Abe pull me into their pranks. I always seem to be the one getting into trouble. It was nice to talk to you on the phone, even if it wasn't for very long.

Hope to hear from you soon! Miss you! Go Falcons! :)

Ricky

P.S. Here's the picture of my arm out of the cast. Gross huh?!

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Hi Ricky!

OMG! Yuck! Why would you send me this?! GROSS! I showed it to my Dad (I told you he's an orthopedic surgeon, right?) He said it's 'normal' for your arm to atrophy (get tiny, weird and pale) and it'll get back to normal in a few months. Blech!

Sorry about the phone call. My Dad really doesn't like boys calling the house. Since I didn't tell him you might call, he wasn't too happy and thought I was sneaking around. He's ok (sorta…) now because he met your Daddy at family day, but wait for me to call next time. He works late on Wednesday and Thursdays so I'll call you then since you said your parents won't mind even though you're an hour ahead. Just wait for my calls. :)

My Dad would be so mad if he knew I told anyone since he likes to keep his patients confidential, but since this is _technically_ out there already, he's the one who did the surgery on David Kampf (even though Atlanta doesn't have a team anymore – hahahaha – I remember you said you followed hockey and your dad used to drive all the way to Atlanta to take you and Jeffy to Thrasher games.)

Anyway, guess what?! We were watching the news last week and they interviewed Kampf and he mentioned Dad and said he saved his career! Dad says he'll clear him to play in a few weeks after he's done some PT for his foot. It's weird seeing all these big guys relying on him like that. Makes me proud.

I'm glad your arm doesn't hurt anymore. I was so scared and worried about you! I hated you had to go home too. Don't beat yourself up too much. Yes, you're a dumbass (we all _know_ that! :)) who should really have known better, but I could've tried harder to talk you out of Abe's foolishness. I had a weird feeling in my stomach when you climbed the tree. I KNEW something bad would happen. Tell your Mama from now on, _I'll_ be helping you make better decisions! That's what friends are for right?!

How could I have forgotten Tyreese?! He's HUGE and impossible to miss! And I still haven't forgiven you for telling him I thought he was cute. Ugh! So embarrassing! I promise to get you back. You won't know when, you won't know how, but trust me, it's coming! :)

Didn't I tell you not to worry about high school? Next time, listen to the Queen of EVERYTHING! I'm doing ok too. I told you _all_ my friends are going to Lake Forest, right? Well, Dad is making me go to Woodlands Academy instead. It's GIRLS ONLY and he says it's because I don't need any 'distractions' in my 'academic path.' We don't start until next week, the perks of going to an all-girls Catholic school. Ugh. My parents insist it's for my own good, so I can focus on academics and not boys, but I know it's going to be BORING!

**Secret: **I know he wants me to be a doctor like him, but I'm not so sure. Right now, it's kind of *yawn*. I do have a pretty cool Art teacher (Ms. Peletier) who's really encouraging, but Dad says it's not 'important' and if my other grades slip, I'll have to drop the class. Maybe being a doctor wouldn't be so bad. I just wish Dad would stop constantly telling me that's 'what I need to work towards.' Even though I actually like math and science, it takes the fun out of it. He wants to plan out every second of my life. :(

I'm glad to hear Abe will be able to play football. That boy is obsessed! I don't know what he would do if he couldn't play. Daryl and Glenn are cool and Abe is funny, but Shane… I don't know about him. Abe is goofy but Shane's pranks are usually kind of mean. I know you've been friends 'since birth,' but he's not always so nice to you. I. Don't. Like. It.

Since Noah is in the first grade this year, Mom is going back to work. She was a lawyer before she had us and she's going back to work for some free law service that helps people who didn't have good lawyers when they first went to trial. Dad says she's helping 'put criminals back on the street,' but I don't think so. Sometimes, things aren't fair and Mom wants to fix that. I'm really proud of her.

I'm really praying for Jeffy. I can't imagine how you're dealing with all of this. If anything happened to Noah, I don't know what I would do. But I know in my heart Jeffy will be fine. I don't know why, I just do.

Dad said we _might_ stay in Chicago this Thanksgiving, but mom's working on him. He doesn't like Georgia for some reason, even though he has family there too. My mom usually wins these types of battles, so I bet we'll end up there anyway. He's pretty strict and likes to keep me in his sights when we're on vacation, not exactly a 'fun dad' like yours. My school gives us the entire week off, but even if we do come, I don't know about being able to get out to your ranch. I'll talk to Mom about it because I'm not very good at convincing Dad…

**Secret: **All those things I told you after the bonfire? Things are getting worse with my Dad. He wants me to be perfect at _everything_. I try, but it's impossible to always meet his standards. I _never_ do anything wrong, but he makes me feel like I'm always doing _something_ wrong. Mom says he's just looking out for me, especially because of what happened to his sister, but it still sucks. Oh well.

Go Falcons? NEVER! Bears all the way baby!

I hope to see you soon. Miss you too!

XOXO,

Michie


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